Post by jamiezimmerman on Aug 30, 2013 22:37:10 GMT
There are two separate occasions when Grendel confronts a deep abyss, one in the beginning and one in the end, that bear stark similarities.
Near the end of the novel, when Grendel is approaching death, he confronts the abyss once more.
Why does Grendel return to this void, now a metaphorical void, in the end? How has Grendel changed since the first time he approached the chasm? Why does Grendel portray death as a choice? Could the void represent something greater?
I hope this to be a general discussion on the presence of the chasm, but here is my take on it:
A touch of heroism ultimately caused Grendel to accept death. Grendel sees death as a choice because he thinks that is what heroes do: willfully accept death. The dragon once told Grendel that his purpose in life is that, "You [improve] them! You make them think and scheme. You drive them to poetry, science, religion, all that makes them what they are for as long as they last. You are, so to speak, the brute existent by which they learn to define themselves" (Gardner 73). The dragon implies that terrorizing the humans is a rather heroic action. He implies that Grendel is a hero by giving the humans their own sense of heroism. Unferth once approached Grendel, asking for death to fulfill his legendary heroism. Unferth explains to him, "No man above us will ever know whether Unferth died here or fled to the hills like a coward. Only you and I and God will know the truth. That's inner heroism" (Gardner 88). Grendel, predictably, is not quick to accept Unferth's words. At some point, though, he has to realize the veracity of Unferth's statement and confirm his inklings of hero status. I believe that Grendel realizes that true heroes are brave enough to ask for death, are courageous enough to walk into Death's arms (the chasm that Grendel thinks of) when it is the proper time, and that the truth be known by only yourself and God.
"I could die. I cackle with rage and suck in breath. 'Dark chasms!' I scream from the cliff-edge, 'seize me! Seize me to your foul black bowels and crush my bones!' I am terrified at the sound of my own huge voice in the darkness... The uproar is only my own shriek, and chasms are, like all things vast, inanimate. They will not snatch me in a thousand years, unless, in a lunatic fit of religion, I jump" (Gardner 10).
Near the end of the novel, when Grendel is approaching death, he confronts the abyss once more.
"I look down past stars to a terrifying darkness. I seem to recognize the place, but it's impossible... I will fall. I seem to desire the fall, and though I fight it with all my will I know in advance that I can't win. Standing baffled, quaking with fear... I find myself, incredibly, moving toward it. I look down, down, into the bottomless blackness, feeling the dark power moving in me like an ocean current, some monster inside me, deep sea wonder, dread night monarch astir in his cave, moving me slowly to my voluntary tumble into death" (Gardner 173).
I hope this to be a general discussion on the presence of the chasm, but here is my take on it:
A touch of heroism ultimately caused Grendel to accept death. Grendel sees death as a choice because he thinks that is what heroes do: willfully accept death. The dragon once told Grendel that his purpose in life is that, "You [improve] them! You make them think and scheme. You drive them to poetry, science, religion, all that makes them what they are for as long as they last. You are, so to speak, the brute existent by which they learn to define themselves" (Gardner 73). The dragon implies that terrorizing the humans is a rather heroic action. He implies that Grendel is a hero by giving the humans their own sense of heroism. Unferth once approached Grendel, asking for death to fulfill his legendary heroism. Unferth explains to him, "No man above us will ever know whether Unferth died here or fled to the hills like a coward. Only you and I and God will know the truth. That's inner heroism" (Gardner 88). Grendel, predictably, is not quick to accept Unferth's words. At some point, though, he has to realize the veracity of Unferth's statement and confirm his inklings of hero status. I believe that Grendel realizes that true heroes are brave enough to ask for death, are courageous enough to walk into Death's arms (the chasm that Grendel thinks of) when it is the proper time, and that the truth be known by only yourself and God.